Direct Selling Businesses or Pyramid Scheme?

Have Direct Selling Businesses Finally Gotten Their Well Deserved Fifteen Minutes of Fame?

Will the Stigma of… “Oh ya mean one of those Pyramid Scheme Things”… Finally be put to rest? – May it R.I.P. too!

Direct Selling Businesses are responsible for generating over $125 billion dollars in revenue last year, (2010) in 150 countries. Direct selling has allowed over 75 million men and women world wide the opportunity to change their lives forever!

In June of this year, 2011 the Wall Street Journal did a 40 page spread featuring Direct Selling Businesses. Download the full WSJ story here:

Wall Street has finally stood up and taken notice of what these home business companies have to offer. In 2010 the top 10 direct sales companies added $28 billion dollars to the economy according to DSN Global.

When you have billionaires like Warren Buffet, Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki, and millionaires like Jim Cramer of Mad Money, Suze Orman, and many others touting the fact that direct selling industry is viable and that their business model works… This speaks volumes to busting the Pyramid Scheme Myth. You simply can’t argue with the numbers below, the home based business industry is booming!

Of the top 10 Direct Selling Businesses:

Five are publicly traded and guess who holds the #1 spot with $10.9 billion in sales? If you guessed Avon, you win the toaster oven!

The #2 spot is held by Amway, and other household names like Herbalife #4, Mary Kay Inc, #6, Tupperware Brands, #7, NuSkin Enterprises, #10, Forever Living Products #9, Melaleuca #15, and MonaVie LLC #17 are some of the other top grossing direct sales companies.

Another staggering statistic surrounding the direct selling industry is from “March of 2009 to May of 2011, the 7 publicly traded best direct selling businesses averaged a 268% increase in their stock price!” Not bad for an industry that in the past has had such a horrible stigma attached to it.

Direct selling, network marketing, home based business, MLM, whatever you choose to call it seems to be taking a turn for the better and is becoming more widely accepted. Jim Cramer is quoted as saying… “The direct selling model is going great guns” he also feels it could be the best way to sell goods in the Third World.

Take a look at this list of direct selling businesses from around the world and what they have produced.

check out those sales numbers. Yes, we are talking Billions!
(Chart provided from the WSJ article.)

With the world economy near chaos, unemployment currently at 9.1% (depending on who you listen to, it’s as high as 17% in some US cities) here are the top five reasons for joining the direct selling industry.

1. Time Freedom!
Direct sales allow freedom of time, you can be home everyday when your kids come home from school. Now there’s a novel idea. Imagine working from the comfort of your own home, scheduling your day around the family needs instead of your J.O.B.’s demands?

2. Be Your Own Boss!
You decide how many hours a day you will work, how you will build your business, how many vacation and sick days you get per year. Job security, and here’s a bonus – No Office Gossip to deal with! 😉

3. Residual Income!
Unlimited earning potential – The opportunity to work very hard for a few years, and get paid over and over again for the work you and your team did months or years ago. Along with that, the ability to earn more than those above you based upon your efforts. Show me how that can happen in Corporate America… It’s not possible!

4. Building Lifelong Relationships!
Direct sales is all about building relationships with people and as you go out and find new customers and reps, often times you end up creating relationships that can last a lifetime.

5. Tax Advantages!
Being involved with direct selling businesses allows you certain tax write off’s that you normally couldn’t take advantage of. Working from home allows a small percentage of your home mortgage to be written off, gas or mileage can now be a deduction. There are so many possibilities, be sure and consult your financial advisor or CPA as the rules are forever changing.

I’ll bet you didn’t you know that direct sales industry is responsible for creating more millionaires than any other sector in history. Judging from the numbers above it’s about time Wall Street and the general public have embraced the idea of the direct selling industry.

After all, 15.1 million people in the US are involved with a direct selling company, and statistics show that half (50%) of US adults purchase products directly from people like you and I.

So for those of you who have doubted the direct sales business model, maybe it’s time to take a closer look. It could quite possibly be your ticket to financial and time freedom!

In closing, I have one question that really is mind boggling. I would love to hear your thoughts so leave me a comment below if you can answer this one question.

With all the facts and figures listed above, how is it possible when people are presented with an opportunity where they can start their own business for $300 to $500 dollars with any number of direct selling companies, and before even hearing about the opportunity, they simply say, no thanks! They won’t even take the time to listen! Perhaps the stigma lingers on…?

We have to reshape the way this and the next generation think! On the plus side, a down economy is the best time for Network Marketing, people are a lot more open to owning their own business now than ever before.

I understand why so many are reluctant to accept that Network Marketing is a viable option to the standard 9 to 5. It’s how we were raised. Go to college and get a job is what many of us were told as we were growing up. That’s what worked for generations.

Now some, not all, but some of us are able to realize the flaw in that thinking.

Until we are able to teach our kids the new way of thinking–go to college to learn how to RUN a business instead of working for one–there will always be a stigma attached to this industry.

Hey John,
I agree, we are all guilty of hiding behind the computer screen from time to time. I’m glad to hear you’re back into the saddle and I wish you the best of luck with your new Web Design Business!

From everything I am learning, this is a great time to come on board with what’s being offered out there.

I am just starting out in the Network Marketing industry, and am in the beginning stages of building relationships online through Facebook and LinkedIn, etc for my new Web Design Business Venture.

I am unfortunately not one to give good feedback on your information here… I just know that I need to get on board with these multimillion dollar a year businesses, instead of hiding behind my computer screen.

Those times of watching from behind the scenes are over… I’ve gotten back in the Networking saddle recently, with many more roads to explore and travel.

I appreciate your friendship Richard, and all the help you are giving me!

You are so right! It’s up to us to rid the industry of that stigma.
More articles need to be written on the subject but until they are, “We The Reps” need to be armed with this info and must pass it along.

It is so sad that the stigma lingers on despite the incredible successes created in the network marketing industry. The biggest issue is that people have no clue what the business model even really looks like, yet they make judgements and assumptions based on limited information. Once people open their minds and learn what the model really is, they are always shocked and amazed. I’m glad that Wall Street has highlighted the industry, because the general public trusts Wall Streets opinion. Maybe now, minds will be a bit more open to learning more so that educated decisions can be made.

As the economy tightens, direct selling should see a new, and different, life brought to it. People need alternatives as both buyers and sellers. Keep up the good work, my friend!C. J. recently posted..The Real “Secret” to Success is the Law of Action